Dear Mrs. Jordan,

John says Marley has taught him a lot. John probably feels disillusioned because of Marley's passing but he thinks back to all the things he has taught him. John says that Marley has taught him to live each day as if it was your last and while living it, live it with a crazy personality and a hyper active heart. He also taught John to notice the simplest things. For example, Marley would walk through the heavy chilling snow to the same tree over and over again. That's like noticing a small bee floating by because if Marley goes to the same tree, he is really noticing and kind of observing the tree as if looking for every detail. My third example that Marley has taught John is that he has taught him friendship, and loyalty. Marley in this story has been not only a man's best friend, but John's best friend too. Whenever he would come home, Marley would be waiting. Another example would be when John would take Marley and Patrick for a walk; Marley would be by his side the whole step of the way. Even when John was comforting their old 17-year-old neighbor, Marley stood guard as if he was a wolf protecting its realm or territory. Marley was not only a friend, but he was loyal. Marley would always be there for John, Jenny, and the kids. John was so caught up in Marley's stories that he even thought to himself, "How could a dog, any dog, but especially a nutty, wildly uncontrollable one like ours, to point humans to the things that really mattered in life?" John was probably thinking this because Marley was a very notorious dog for many reasons.

Some predictions I have for Marley and Me are that John and Jenny will miss Marley and they will get another lab dog. I am also predicting that John will write about Marley in his column. What I am wondering is if John and Jenny do get a new dog, what will they name him/her. Also what I'm wondering is, if they get another lab, will it be the same as Marley? Or will it be a sweet, lovable, well-trained one like Shaun? I think it will be a dog like Shaun because some evidence from the text is in the book, John's dad says, "There will never be a dog like Marley." After the story, I am also predicting that the Grogan family will ever be the same. I think this because in the book, it says that "The summer after his death we installed a swimming pool, and I could not help thinking how much Marley, our tireless water dog, would have loved it, loved it more than any of us possibly could, even as he gouged the liner with his claws and clogged the filter with his fur."